The Orlando Magic know who to turn to when they need energy or a pick-me-up.
On the second night of a back-to-back when the team looked focused but still a bit sluggish after the overnight trip from New York City to Philadelphia, the Magic needed a lift from their bench. They needed one of their big energy players to step in.
That is Moe Wagner.
The guy who was clapping near Karl-Anthony Towns and giving back to the All-Star as much as he took. Towns may have made those tough shots, but Wagner was trying to give energy to a Magic team desperately needing some. He was not backing down. The Magic need that attitude sometimes.
That is his role. That is what the Magic’s bench does. This is what Wagner does.
He will get under his opponent's skin. His outward showing of emotions can sometimes rub opponents the wrong way. He rarely seems to be showing anybody up—he often brushes aside any of the many instances he has been involved in by saying he is not aware of what he is doing.
But Wagner is often working to pump himself up or lift up his teammates. He knows his teammate feed off his energy and seeming bravado.
Wagner is unapologetically himself. Where his brother is seemingly always calm and collected, surgically cutting up a defense, Moe Wagner is bludgeoning people, digging his shoulder into everyone and shouting after every play or clapping wildly with every charge.
It is the kind of demonstration and motioning that does not work if he is also not one of the best players coming off the bench. A player who has gotten better repeatedly and anchors one of the best bench units in the entire league.
More than that, Wagner is a shot of energy, giving the team a won't-back-down energy and the joy the Magic love to talk about.
Wagner again is posting a career-best season, averaging 12.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, both career highs. He is shooting 54.4 percent from the floor and 31.7 percent from three, just enough to keep defenses honest.
That anchors one of the best bench units in the league. Orlando is fifth in the league averaging 39.4 points per game off the bench, falling only slightly from last year—they were fourth in bench scoring last year.
As coach Jamahl Mosley has joked before, Moe Wagner wakes up scoring 10 points. He is reliable for his 10-15 points every night. And sometimes he gives you more. Indeed, he has scored fewer than 10 points in just six of the Magic's 24 games. And in three of those he had nine points.
Wagner deserves to be in the running for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award
Yet, Wagner is not among the favorites to win the league's Sixth Man of the Year. You will hardly find a mention of him anywhere among the early candidates for the award.
FanDuel SportsBook does not even list the odds for Moe Wagner to win the award. This is despite him ranking eighth in points per game among bench players with at least 12 games off the bench (half of the Magic's league-high 24 games so far).
That feels impossible considering how reliable Wagner has been.
Wagner’s aggression and energy have been vital to the team’s success. The Magic’s bench is still a major part of the formula for the Magic—and the bench’s struggles were one of the big reasons the Magic’s game in New York got out of hand. Wagner still had 20 points, bringing that trademark energy all the way to the end of the game.
Franz Wagner said after the game Tuesday the Magic needed the energy and bravado his older brother brought. They needed a spark. And while the Magic as a team could not answer the bell, Wagner stood out on a bad night.
That has always been the case. Wagner is someone who can lift the team up when they need it.
Wagner helped turn around the Orlando Magic’s 106-102 win against the Philadelphia 76ers in both of his stints. He scored six of his 10 points in Wednesday’s game in the first quarter, helping Orlando build a 12-point lead at the end of the quarter, a lead the team would mostly maintain throughout the game. The Magic were +13 when he was on the floor.
Wagner has a positive impact when he plays. He is even contributing more on defense, willing to dish out some physicality like he did against the Knicks. But also taking charges like he did last year—he is tied with Jalen Suggs with four chares this year. He has even blocked 11 shots this year, 10 shy of his career-high 21 from last year.
The Magic have carved a perfect role for Wagner. He comes in and the team sets him up with pick and rolls and post-ups to score. He does it all very effectively.
That has helped the Magic maintain their strength on the bench. That was the area the Orlando tinkered with most this ofseason.
They lost key playmakers in Markelle Fultz and Joe Ingles. Cole Anthony, the leading scorer off the bench last year, has struggled this year and has fallen out of the rotation. Anthony Black has stepped in as an unproven second-year point guard. With the injury to Paolo Banchero, Jalen Suggs has slid down to the bench to anchor those lineups.
That is a lot of changes. And those are a lot of things that could have affected Wagner. The bench has not been as dominant as they were last year. The team's depth has been stretched thin again.
But Wagner has played through it. He has found a way to succeed through it. He has made everything easier for the new players coming into the lineup. He is that security blanket.
And as Orlando continues to formulate its path to victory, bench scoring and Wagner specifically are big parts of the puzzle. And Wagner deserves some recognition for it.